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Earlier this week i caught up with one of Young Money’s recording engineers Mike Cadahia better known as Mike Banger. Recently Mike spoke to ***********.com about what exactly he does as an engineer for Lil Wayne and the Cash Money/Young Money family and his work in major projects such as the new “I’m Not A Human Being” EP set to be released September 27 and the most anticipated album of the Carter series “The Carter IV“. Check out what Mike had to say below.
First off, Thanks for taking your time out and speaking with us.
No prob. I appreciate the support.
Tell us about yourself, how long have you been a recording engineer and producer for? And how did you meet Lil’ Wayne?
I actually did not intend on becoming a recording engineer but I picked it up along the way. I’ve been doing music for about ten years. I started off playing drums, I rhymed a bit, got into making beats, bought a keyboard, recorded some songs, and learn to mix them. I couldn’t really afford school so a few small studio internships gave me the experience needed to take on bigger internships. In the end a bunch of free hours and unpaid internships are what led to me meeting Lil Wayne. He worked with just about all my colleagues and industry friends before I finally got the call from my homey Drew. It was kind of crazy and nerve wrecking because the session was about 2 hours from the call at The Hit Factory Criteria which I had never been in or worked at.
Now, As a recording engineer and producer, what are your roles in creating the music that we hear everyday?
I record, organize, receive feature files and store everything he lays down along with every beat that is submitted. We usually start a session by hearing beats till he likes one then looping wherever he wants to start thinking at. I guess we have good chemistry because we really don’t need to speak much while heavily working aside from the lyrics floating in the room. He’ll just nod at me and go in the booth. The beat or the idea he’s coming up with will influence how I prep his mic channel with eqs, distortion, autotune, etc… if he didn’t already request something. At first the many things we do now regularly which have advanced into a style of our own took some time and experimentation. He might tell me where to chop or screw or whatever but for the most part now we both feel the records and do creative things as the songs production progresses. My ideas I choose to share selectively knowing he has the right to shut them down with no remorse and kick me out of the studio. As soon as he leaves I make beats to show him on our next session along with any others I received. He always rearranges what us producers intended on producing so it always comes out more creative and interesting than we expected to hear.
Now let’s talk about the upcoming EP from Lil’ Wayne “I’m Not A Human Being”. You recorded “Right above it”, the first single from the EP. This is one of your first major recordings. Is it true this song was never set to be on the EP?
“Right Above It” was a song we had been back and forth on for a while. There are a few different versions. He’ll always fix a verse or make it better if he can but this one was special. Everyone in the studio loved it the first time before any changes but he is a perfectionist. KY began recording this song and it was one of my earlier sessions the first time I was flown out to L.A. I also mixed this song which I didn’t expect to do. Before he went in he didn’t tell me to use this song for anything but his manager heard it and the executive decision was made.
We know you’re close to Young Money, can you tell us about your relationship with them? Are there members that you’re closer to than the others?
I love my team. I’m from Miami so I get to see some more than others but it’s all good. I keep the line always open 24-7 and let them send anything my way to work on. Sometimes they gotta hit me up for technical difficulties with their laptop setups. I’m closest to Wayne since we work every night overtime but I think me and Nicki are telepathically connected.
In terms of work, have you recorded any material on Wayne’s Carter 4? We know you’ve been doing a lot of work for the upcoming EP.
We work so much that anything can be put together at a time like this. #FreeWeeZy. C4 could have been put out as is but instead they chose this EP idea which I like better too. He gave me many ideas before he went in too. I could’ve put out 3 albums. I Am Not A Human Being is dope though. C4 I’m sure will be completed as soon as he comes home.
What are your thoughts on Lil Wayne’s prison sentence? Do you think the music game is missing Lil’ Wayne right now?
It sucks that he has to sit in there but at least its less than a year. He’ll be out soon. I hope whatever the reason or outcome to this is positive. Of course we all miss him.
First off, Thanks for taking your time out and speaking with us.
No prob. I appreciate the support.
Tell us about yourself, how long have you been a recording engineer and producer for? And how did you meet Lil’ Wayne?
I actually did not intend on becoming a recording engineer but I picked it up along the way. I’ve been doing music for about ten years. I started off playing drums, I rhymed a bit, got into making beats, bought a keyboard, recorded some songs, and learn to mix them. I couldn’t really afford school so a few small studio internships gave me the experience needed to take on bigger internships. In the end a bunch of free hours and unpaid internships are what led to me meeting Lil Wayne. He worked with just about all my colleagues and industry friends before I finally got the call from my homey Drew. It was kind of crazy and nerve wrecking because the session was about 2 hours from the call at The Hit Factory Criteria which I had never been in or worked at.
Now, As a recording engineer and producer, what are your roles in creating the music that we hear everyday?
I record, organize, receive feature files and store everything he lays down along with every beat that is submitted. We usually start a session by hearing beats till he likes one then looping wherever he wants to start thinking at. I guess we have good chemistry because we really don’t need to speak much while heavily working aside from the lyrics floating in the room. He’ll just nod at me and go in the booth. The beat or the idea he’s coming up with will influence how I prep his mic channel with eqs, distortion, autotune, etc… if he didn’t already request something. At first the many things we do now regularly which have advanced into a style of our own took some time and experimentation. He might tell me where to chop or screw or whatever but for the most part now we both feel the records and do creative things as the songs production progresses. My ideas I choose to share selectively knowing he has the right to shut them down with no remorse and kick me out of the studio. As soon as he leaves I make beats to show him on our next session along with any others I received. He always rearranges what us producers intended on producing so it always comes out more creative and interesting than we expected to hear.
Now let’s talk about the upcoming EP from Lil’ Wayne “I’m Not A Human Being”. You recorded “Right above it”, the first single from the EP. This is one of your first major recordings. Is it true this song was never set to be on the EP?
“Right Above It” was a song we had been back and forth on for a while. There are a few different versions. He’ll always fix a verse or make it better if he can but this one was special. Everyone in the studio loved it the first time before any changes but he is a perfectionist. KY began recording this song and it was one of my earlier sessions the first time I was flown out to L.A. I also mixed this song which I didn’t expect to do. Before he went in he didn’t tell me to use this song for anything but his manager heard it and the executive decision was made.
We know you’re close to Young Money, can you tell us about your relationship with them? Are there members that you’re closer to than the others?
I love my team. I’m from Miami so I get to see some more than others but it’s all good. I keep the line always open 24-7 and let them send anything my way to work on. Sometimes they gotta hit me up for technical difficulties with their laptop setups. I’m closest to Wayne since we work every night overtime but I think me and Nicki are telepathically connected.
In terms of work, have you recorded any material on Wayne’s Carter 4? We know you’ve been doing a lot of work for the upcoming EP.
We work so much that anything can be put together at a time like this. #FreeWeeZy. C4 could have been put out as is but instead they chose this EP idea which I like better too. He gave me many ideas before he went in too. I could’ve put out 3 albums. I Am Not A Human Being is dope though. C4 I’m sure will be completed as soon as he comes home.
What are your thoughts on Lil Wayne’s prison sentence? Do you think the music game is missing Lil’ Wayne right now?
It sucks that he has to sit in there but at least its less than a year. He’ll be out soon. I hope whatever the reason or outcome to this is positive. Of course we all miss him.
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